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Who is Mariah Bell?

Who is Mariah Bell?

Get to know figure skater Mariah Bell and her major accomplishments before she competes at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics

Mariah Bell broke into the upper echelon of U.S. ladies figure skating when she won a bronze medal at nationals in 2017. She finished 12th at her world championships debut a few months later.

Music this season:

Short program: Selections from "Chicago"

Free skate: "West Side Story" by Leonard Bernstein

Figure skating beginnings

Bell was born April 18, 1996 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Bell, her older sister Morgan, and her parents moved to Texas soon after. They took a family vacation to Colorado, met a figure skating coach, and on the drive home, the sisters made a “let’s move to Colorado” song and a PowerPoint presentation. It worked, and both girls began their figure skating careers.

Bell won three straight medals to open her 2016-17 season. First, she grabbed a silver at the U.S. International Classic in Salt Lake City. She followed that up with a bronze medal at the Nepela Trophy in Slovakia. That all gave Bell momentum for her only Grand Prix assignment, which she believes was her breakout moment.

Bell was a last-minute substitution for an injured skater at Skate America, held in Chicago in October 2016. The competition allowed for a shift in her mentality: She says she realized she could compete at a high international level. Her short program music, appropriately, was from the musical “Chicago.” She took full advantage of the surprise opportunity and won a silver medal behind training partner Ashley Wagner.

Though she hasn’t done it in a while in order to prevent injury, she can ride a unicycle. On her off days, she enjoys sitting on the beach near her home and watching TV shows, including The Mindy Project and The Bachelor. She also has a guinea pig named Charlie.

Her sister, Morgan, plays Anna from the movie “Frozen” in Disney on Ice. The Bell sisters often have FaceTime sessions before Mariah competes and, when Morgan is on-site at competitions, she helps Mariah apply her makeup.